And the day following, Paul went in with us unto James: and all the ancients were assembled.
τη δε επιουση εισηει ο παυλος συν ημιν προς ιακωβον παντες τε παρεγενοντο οι πρεσβυτεροι
9 Church Fathers comment on this verse
This James was the brother of the Lord and bishop of Jerusalem, a great and marvelous man. Paul comes to him, just as before he had been sent to him. Hear how this happened. "On the next day," the writer says, "Paul went in with us to James." See how free he is from pride.
"On the next day Paul went in with us to James." James was bishop of Jerusalem. He is the brother of the Lord, a great man and worthy of wonder.
"On the next day Paul went in with us to James." James was bishop of Jerusalem. He is the brother of the Lord, a great man and worthy of wonder.
This James was the brother of the Lord, that is, the son of the sister of Mary, the Mother of the Lord, whom the Evangelist John mentions (see Jn 19:25). After the Lord's Passion, he received the office of bishop from the Apostles and presided over the Church in Jerusalem for thirty years, until the seventh year of Nero's reign. Since the Jews could not kill Paul, though this was what they most desired, they attacked James after the death of Festus and before Albinus came into the province. He was buried beside the temple, from which he had been thrown down.
Having arrived in Jerusalem, Paul went the very next day with his companions to the Apostle James. The presbyters of the Church then gathered to him. All listened with great sympathy to what Paul told them about the working of the Gospel among the Gentiles.
James only observed that there were now several thousand believing Jews in Jerusalem who nevertheless strictly kept the law of Moses.
He added that certain Judaizers, who everywhere tried to present Paul’s actions in the worst light, had spread a rumor among them.
They claimed that Paul not only freed the Gentiles from observing the Mosaic law, but also forbade Jews living among the Gentiles to circumcise their children. They claimed he generally taught them apostasy from the law.
This accusation was unjust if it meant that Paul rejected the outward observance of Judaism in itself. He rejected it only as a means of man’s justification and sanctification.
His chief principle was this: no one should abandon the earthly, national, and civil relations in which he had lived before Christianity, unless there were weighty reasons for doing so.
In accordance with this principle, Paul also allowed Jews to remain with their Jewish institutions. The observance of the law of Moses belonged to these (1 Cor 7:17, 18).
Therefore, in order to refute this accusation by action itself, James proposed that Paul publicly bear witness, through respect for Jewish rites, that he was not an enemy of the Jewish law.
Paul accepted this proposal and resolved, with four brethren from among the Jews, to take upon himself a Nazirite vow for seven days.
Consequently, he subjected himself to the same renunciations required of Nazirites. He announced to the priests of the temple that he would pay for himself and his fellow participants the sum due from them for offering sacrifice to God at the release from the vow.
When the Apostle Paul arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles and the other brethren who were there received him cordially. They glorified God as they listened to his accounts of what God had done through his hands among the Gentiles.
Yet all were troubled by the fear that the Apostle of the Gentiles might suffer insult and violence from the Jews. They had heard of him that he taught Jews living in the Diaspora not to circumcise their children and generally not to live according to the law of Moses.
To dispel this prejudice against Paul among the Jews, and thereby deliver him from the danger threatening him, the Jerusalem presbyters gave Paul counsel. At their head was James, the brother of the Lord according to the flesh.
They advised Paul to take part in a temporary Nazirite vow held by four Christians from among the Jews. They also advised him to take part in the public performance of the rites of this vow in the temple.
The brethren received the great Apostle with joy. On the next day a solemn assembly of Christians was held under the presidency of James, the brother of the Lord. There the Apostle Paul, "having greeted them, related in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry."
Without delay, on the very next day, Paul came with us, that is, with his companions, among whom was the writer of the book of Acts, to James, the brother of the Lord and bishop of Jerusalem (Acts 12:12; Acts 15:13 and following, with notes).
Judging from the fact that only presbyters are mentioned afterward, and nowhere the apostles, one must suppose that none of the apostles was in Jerusalem at that time. They were probably preaching in other countries.
All the presbyters also gathered to James at this time (see the note on Acts 11:30 and parallels). This was evidently a solemn assembly of the representatives of the Church, occasioned by the arrival in Jerusalem of the great Apostle of the Gentiles with his fellow workers.
The meeting of the Apostle Paul with James, bishop of Jerusalem, and with the presbyters was favorable. When Paul told of his preaching, the listeners glorified God.
Yet there were also some who did not fully approve of Paul’s freedom in relation to Jewish ritual practice, and even to circumcision. They condemned the fact that, by his counsel, Christians from among the Jews did not circumcise their children.
“The Judaizing teachers suggested to the zealots of the law, and they believed them, that Paul taught all Jews living among the Gentiles apostasy from Moses. The Greek expression αποστασίαν is stronger and means betrayal or treason.
They said he preached that they should not circumcise their children and should not walk according to the customs, that is, should not fulfill the rites of the law of Moses.
These are evidently the same opponents of Paul, the teachers who troubled the Church of Antioch and Jerusalem. They demanded circumcision and observance of the law of Moses even for Gentiles turning to Christ (ch. 15).
The accusation against Paul, released among the people, was slander. From all his teaching, as it is unfolded in his epistles, and from all his activity, one sees what alone he taught.
He taught that the salvation of those who believe in Christ is conditioned neither by circumcision nor by fulfillment of the law of Moses, but by faith in Christ Jesus. See the Epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Corinthians.
This means: if you wish, keep the law of Moses; if you wish, do not. His act concerning circumcision bears witness to how he taught about it. Taking Timothy as his fellow worker, he circumcised him.
Thus the insinuation that Paul was an apostate from the law and taught others apostasy was a malicious insinuation and slander against the Apostle.”
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 15 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS